Professor Jay Kesan recently published a blog post on The Chinese University of Hong Kong's Machine Lawyering blog, about his forthcoming Illinois Law Review article "Liability for Data Injuries."

In the post, Kesan writes:

"Data breaches and cyberattacks are part of our daily existence. Consumers are at increased risk of identity theft following data breaches. Company websites can be vandalized or knocked off-line by attackers. Confidential documents can be stolen and then used by competitors or distributed to the public. If an organization’s computers are locked by ransomware, day-to-day operations might cease entirely until the data is restored.

"Anyone who operates a computer connected to the Internet becomes a potential target. Most countries have laws against cybercrime. Unfortunately, it is often challenging to enforce these criminal laws. It is generally difficult to tie a specific person to a specific computer at the time of a specific crime and obtain jurisdiction over that person."

Read the full blog post.